by Chris Chase, USA TODAY Sports

by Chris Chase, USA TODAY Sports

Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery finished atop our NCAA tournament announcer power rankings earlier this week. The seasoned veterans call a clean, exciting game with just the right amount of irreverence. Their love of basketball is contagious. It's no surprise CBS chose them to kick off its Thursday coverage with the Michigan State-Valparaiso game.

The pair were calling their 525th game at the NCAA tournament. This year, they welcomed a new face to their announcing team -- Rachel Nichols, formerly of ESPN. After the first television timeout, Rachel was welcomed to March Madness with a graphic that highlighted her college basketball inexperience.

Nichols left ESPN for CNN/Turner earlier this year and is working her first NCAA tournament game.

Later in the half, Lundquist and Raftery had a quintessential exchange that validated their top ranking on our list.

Before a timeout midway through the half, Michigan State attempted an ill-advised, razzle-dazzle alley oop . When it failed, Lundquist scoffed, clearly preferring less pizazz and more fundamentals.

His partner jokingly called him on it, to which Lundquist replied, "call me Ebenezer."

Raftery then delivered a "SEND IT IN!" as Michigan State got a dunk anyway and CBS cut to commercial. The best in the business calling the best sports day of the year.